The Excommunicated Saint Wants to Lose

Riella flew through the sky using flight magic, carefully looking down below.
The middle of the mountain where trees grew sparsely.
She spotted the intruder leaning against a large tree.
She was wearing a robe, seemingly unbothered by it.
Her face was fully visible as she wasn’t wearing the hood.
‘Clitia…’

Her uniquely radiant appearance was the same as before.
But even her beauty couldn’t hide the eerie atmosphere.
Clitia was talking to herself.
To the empty air where no one was present.
She often talked to herself before, but then she had the goddess and Sun Catcher to converse with.
But now that she’s excommunicated, isn’t she in a state where she can’t talk to either of them?
Fragments of madness could be felt in her voice as she muttered something alone.
Who could she be talking to?
Perhaps she thinks her dead comrades are still by her side.
Watching her made Riella’s heart heavy.
Almost enough to shake her resolve to give her peace.
But she steeled her heart again.
It was too dangerous to leave her be.
Those gloomy eyes as if fallen into an abyss.
The eyes of someone who takes away others’ lives without a second thought.
The reason she came to the Purple Magic Tower must be because she wants to be covered in blood.
She needed to be cold-hearted and grit her teeth.

Evil is a pest that eats away at the world.
It’s always the kind and weak ones, like her dead sister, who suffer.
So it had to be eliminated.
Even if that target was her almost only friend.
“Clitia.”
Riella snapped her fingers while avoiding the lifeless gaze directed at her.
Then countless magic circles densely embroidered the sky.
Great Annihilation.
An attack magic faithful only to the purpose of annihilating the enemy, as its name suggests.
Most living beings can’t withstand even one and die.
It was a means of killing with maximized destructive power, as simple as it was.
“I’m sorry. You have to die.”
Purple spheres poured down on Clitia like heavy rain.
A fierce bombardment.
The deafening roar continued without pause.
If it were an ordinary enemy, the outcome would already be decided.
It was rather excessive treatment.
However, the opponent was one of the Seven Great Evils of Humanity.
A dangerous person where carelessness becomes death.
Not even the slightest opening should be given.
‘Great Annihilation’ continued to bombard the ground.
Until her fingertips trembled from excessive mana use.
‘Is it over?’
This should be enough, right?
Riella waited for the thick dust created by the bombardment to clear.
Eventually, Clitia’s figure was revealed.
Broken or severed limbs.
A pool of blood on the ground.

It was undoubtedly a scene of death.
For someone exposed to an air raid with bare skin, she was in a relatively intact state, but there seemed to be no possibility of recovery.
“……”
It was a perfect victory that would raise the status of the Purple Magic Tower even higher if it became known to the world.
She might even receive a knighthood from the emperor for the merit of catching a public enemy.
But she wasn’t happy at all.
The aftertaste was too bitter.
Riella landed beside Clitia.
She intended to bury her in a place where sunlight reaches well.
As ‘Saint Clitia’, not the ‘Excommunicated Saint’.
So that she could return to the goddess’s embrace, even in death.
“I’m really sorry.”
“You did do something to be sorry for, didn’t you?”
“…Huh?”
Clitia suddenly sat up.
Already fully recovered.
“Hey.”
Then she approached right in front of Riella.
It was so fast that she couldn’t react in time.
Who would have thought she’d be alive in that condition?
A painful misjudgment.
Riella braced herself for the incoming impact.
“Ouch!”
A stinging flick landed on her crown.
“Is this how you greet me after not seeing each other for so long, attacking without even saying hello?”
“…Clitia?”
Her tone, expression, gestures.
Everything was exactly as she remembered.

“Have you come back to your senses?”
“I was always sane, you idiot.”
“……”
“If anything, I almost lost my mind because of that bombardment earlier. It hurt like hell, you know?”
Clitia was grumbling but still had a small smile.
“But I felt good, so I’ll forgive you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can’t we go inside and rest first? My whole body aches.”
Even if she was sane, it didn’t erase the evil deeds she had committed until now.
Still, it was worth having a conversation for now.
“Follow me.”
Riella snapped her fingers.

“Drink.”
I took the teacup Riella handed me.
“Is it poisoned?”
“Even if it’s poisoned, you won’t die anyway.”
“That’s true.”
I took a sip of the tea.
A subtle floral scent spread in my mouth.
“It tastes bad.”

The taste was disappointing compared to the aroma.

“This is high-grade tea that even royalty can’t get their hands on.”
“So what?”
“Your taste buds are weird, you fool.”
It’s just fragrant plain water, what’s so good about it?
I forced down the tea and looked around the room.
A room filled with books and magic circle diagrams.
It was a place I hadn’t been to even in , the Purple Magic Tower Master’s room.
“To think you’re the Tower Master. This place has gone downhill too.”
“People said the same thing when you became a saint.”
It was truly a friendly conversation.
We became close after talking like this from our first meeting.

“Anyway, hurry up and tell me the inside story. Why were you doing such things when you’re perfectly sane?”
“If I answer wrong, will you shoot that thing again?”

‘Great Annihilation’, which was used as the sage’s main skill in the game.
Experiencing it firsthand was agonizingly painful.

“I’m already aiming, so answer quickly.”
“Wait a moment.”

I briefly explained how I had lived after being excommunicated.
“To summarize what you’re saying… you weren’t crazy, but were going around looking for opponents who could defeat you?”

Her expression wasn’t good.
It wasn’t much different from Giff’s reaction.

“I’m relieved.”
But soon after, her stiff face relaxed.
“About what?”
“In the end, you only killed evil or corrupt people.”

Riella smiled for the first time since our reunion.
She always frowned, but when she actually smiled, she was radiant.
“I don’t know why you want to lose, but I’ll support you. I can’t interfere with you beating up trash.”
But the words she uttered were nothing short of brutal.
I just sipped the tea while watching her reaction.
“I sometimes bring in a bad guy and tear them to death too.”
Somehow, the kid had become much more violent while I was away.
I should have known from when she poured down an air raid without even properly talking.

I wonder if it’s related to the reason she’s wearing that large eye patch.
I only speculated in my head.
It might be rude to ask outright.
“Ah, so you came all the way here to fight me?”
Riella was on my wish list too, but there was a more important opponent right now.

“Not you, the sage.”
“…You came to fight the sage?”
Riella’s expression hardened rapidly.
“She’s far from enough to beat you.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Mental education. To straighten out the mindset of the hero party kids so they can grow steadily. That way, they won’t give up no matter what enemy they face.”

And someday, they’ll be able to subjugate me.
The atmosphere became ominous, so the latter words stayed in my throat and went back down.

“What does that have to do with unauthorized entry?”
“I’m going to attack the sage as the infamous ‘Excommunicated Saint’. I need to teach through real combat.”

When I fought the hero, I failed to control the intensity and it showed a bit.
This time, I’ll immerse myself properly in the act.

“Absolutely not.”

At that moment, Riella glared at me coldly.

“She’s still too young.”
“How old is she?”
“Even younger than when Erin became the sage.”

Then she must be in her early teens.
She was certainly very young.

“She still needs to be protected.”
“Erin bravely faced enemies at a young age.”

Erin, the previous sage, was the youngest but led everyone else.
She was a proper magician worthy of the title ‘Sage’.

“As a member of the hero party, she should face enemies as much as possible even if she can’t win.”
“Erin died doing that!”

I feared it might happen, but in the end, she brought up the topic I didn’t want to discuss.

“What’s the use of dying while trying hard? When facing a strong enemy, she should just run away.”
“At that rate, they won’t be able to defeat the Demon Lord until they die of old age.”
“Will you take responsibility if she falls into despair from the shock of being defeated by you?”

I opened my mouth while enduring Riella’s chilly attitude.

“With that mentality, she’ll end up like that someday even if I don’t touch her.”
“……”

An even colder response came back.

“Do you have to make that child die on the battlefield like Erin to feel satisfied?”
“It’s the opposite. I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t die like Erin.”

I fully understood what Riella was thinking.
We were both making arguments based on Erin’s death.

We agreed up to the point that we couldn’t let the same thing happen again.
But our conclusions were different.

One wants to clash head-on strongly.
One wishes to go around as much as possible.

Neither of us had any intention of backing down.
Then all that was left was catastrophe.

“I see.”

Magic circles were drawn in the air.

And the next moment.
We were standing in a wide, gloomy space.

Floor, walls, ceiling.
It was a large auditorium with all six sides filled with patterns and letters.

So it’s coming to a fight after all.
I didn’t like it.

“Are you trying to kill me again like before?”
“Of course not.”

All the magic circles in the auditorium began to emit a purple light.

“I thought this would be better than just uselessly moving our mouths. Don’t you agree?”
“You’re right.”

I enveloped both my fists in aura.

“Correct words.”

Indeed, the end of a difference in opinion was a fistfight.